The NFL is extending its relationship with Genius Sports for three additional years, giving the company exclusive data and live video rights through the 2027-28 season.
Under the extension, Genius Sports will remain the middleman between the NFL’s official data feed and sportsbooks looking to build markets off the fastest possible in-game information. Genius will also sell data to media companies—that’s the “Next Gen Stats” that fans see on broadcasts—and remain the exclusive gatekeeper to live game broadcasts that sportsbooks can purchase to show alongside their odds. The company is getting access to more streaming games under the new extension.
Already one of Genius Sports’ largest shareholders, the NFL is set to receive at least four million more shares (currently worth about $23 million) as part of the deal, according to an SEC filing with details on future extensions. That’s on top of the 18.5 million shares ($107 million) that the league already owns as part of the original 2021 agreement. And markets approve- by Friday, Genius shares gained 29% to close the week at $7.48.
There’s likely also additional compensation (cash and possibly equity) as part of the agreement, though the official announcement didn’t provide any specifics. The SEC filing says the NFL is due two million shares if extended through March 2026, and another two million if extended through March 2027. There are no details in the filing about an extension for that third year.
This is one of the NFL's largest commercial partnerships, and also one of the most valuable data packages in global sports. The NFL is by far the most popular sport for U.S. gamblers, and the start of the league season every September is viewed by many within the industry as a de facto deadline for new product launches and new in-state offerings.
Genius is just one of a handful of league partners in which the NFL holds equity. The league has recently prioritized 32 Equity, its venture capital arm, to share in the economics of many of the same companies that grow utilizing NFL IP. The portfolio includes Fanatics, On Location Experiences, Sportradar and new apparel partner NOBULL.
Genius was in the process of going public back in 2021 when it pried away the NFL’s exclusive rights from Sportradar with a higher cash and equity offer. It included penny options for 18.5 million shares, at the time worth about $367 million, set to vest over a series of years. (Genius shares have fallen more than 50% since that first deal was struck, accounting for the difference in value.)
According to the company’s 2022 annual report, filed in March 2023, the NFL had vested 15.5 million of those shares by the end of 2021, with the other three million set to vest over the course of the original agreement.
The extra two million shares from the first year of the extension will vest on April 1, 2025, according to the filing. The extra two million shares from the second year of the extension will vest on April 1, 2026. At that point, the NFL will own roughly 10% of the company.
The news comes two weeks after Genius also extended its relationship with Football DataCo, the licensing agency for the English Premier League, another one of the company’s most valuable partnerships. Genius is hoping to integrate more of the technology from Second Spectrum, a 2021 acquisition, to increase the types of data it collects from its major governing body and league partners.
(This story has been updated in the third paragraph with Genius's stock performance to close the week.)
